The Tesla Roadster is receiving its fourth major production update with the new Roadster 2.5, a revised version of the electric sports car with a new grille and rear bumper.

The 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 received an updated grille that resembles the design of the Model S as well as a new rear bumper with a diffuser element. Other cosmetic changes include more comfortable seats, improved surface finishes and an optional seven inch touchscreen display that includes a backup camera. So far, there are no powertrain changes to the vehicle.

Earlier this year, Tesla planned to stop production of the Roadster and announced in a Form S-1 filing of its preliminary prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company would replace the Roadster with a new model that would be introduced in 2013 at the very soonest.

But in March of this year, the auto company said they negotiated further with key suppliers and felt they could increase the Roadster's production by 40 percent, extending sales into 2012. Undoubtedly, Tesla's recent success with their initial public offering, which helped the automaker earn over US $226 million from share purchases, has put the company in a better financial place and is helping them stay on track with the 2012 goal.

Originally, the shares were expected to sell for $14-$16 a piece, but ended up selling for $17. In addition, there was an increase in the number of shares sold. Tesla planned to release 11.1 million shares, but released 13.3 million shares instead, and at a higher cost, which makes this a triumphant success for the auto company. Though, only 17 percent of shares have been sold to the public.

Tesla stocks are now over $21.50 a share, and Tesla is valued at US $1.33 billion. With the IPO's help in bringing Tesla out of a financial crisis, the company's production plan consists of releasing the Roadster 2.5 in 2011 and the Model S in 2012. In addition, the automaker has opened two new Tesla stores in Newport Beach, California and Copenhagen, Denmark.

No prices on the Roadster 2.5 have been released yet, but the vehicle is available for order and will appear in Tesla stores everywhere "soon."

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

Oh, keep calm. The amount of money the government pays out to the subsidies for Teslas is negligible compared to the budget of the government, so it's more of a matter of what someone else is getting rather than how it affects you. And the subsidies are still doing their purported job, of advancing the technology. Making a provision of a price limit dictating which cars are eligible for the subsidy would just be a jealous, bureaucratic regulation which would get in the way of the goal of the subsidy.

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." -- James Madison

in other words... a government that has the money to spend on subsidies for things that some lobbying group thinks is important is a government that has too much of the people's money.

"If you look at the last five years, if you look at what major innovations have occurred in computing technology, every single one of them came from AMD. Not a single innovation came from Intel." -- AMD CEO Hector Ruiz in 2007